10/11/2013
Here is an amazing piece about coming out written by one of our own QSC members Jenny Torres!
*********************************
This isn't my coming out story, but this is what it means for me to come out...
Liberation in small steps.
Being homosexual doesn't define who I am,
But it's definitely a big part of me.
It was a part of me I hid and protected for many years.
And yes I protected it,
Because I knew taking this part of me to light,
Would bring the most controversy to light,
I was protecting myself from those looks I get when I'm dressed like a stud,
The looks when I hold a girl's hand,
The strong words put on me to leave a restaurant because I was with my girlfriend,
The seemingly okay statements saying I'm too pretty to be a le***an,
The other ones saying you look better dressed as a girl.
Thinking about these situations all together made something click in my mind...
I came out once,
but never have I stopped since.
We start in the closet,
Then you have to turn the handle,
Have the strength to push the door open,
Peek your head through,
And take your first step out,
then another...
And another...
Until you're fully out.
But... what's beyond the closet?
A room,
And another,
and another.
I don't want to discourage anyone but it really is a small step at a time to your liberation,
Until you truly reach the sunlight,
Until you are free from the confinement of your own fears and doubts in yourself.
See... coming out is a process,
When your homosexual,
There will always be oppression after every step you take out of the dark,
Always something trying to blockade you from your truth,
We are a group who has no out to the cage society put us in.
But still we overcome,
Because we have each other,
We need each other to survive,
We need our stories of coming out to appreciate and understand our own oppression,
To appreciate the leaders who shed light to the existence of our oppression in the past,
Because I know I owe them my life,
Because they made it that much easier to come out,
and all it starts with is a simple statement,
A true fact of oneself,
To the world,
but more importantly
To yourself,
I am homosexual. *turns the handle*
PS:
To the first generation to come out,
Thank you.
To my generation who are in the process,
Thank them.
And to the ones still in the closet,
I understand friend & It's going to be okay.
